Another amazing tasting last night, on Twitter. Hosted by The Whisky Wire, we got to sample a couple of lovely whiskies from Irish distillery Clonakilty.
Clonakilty Irish Whiskey Single Grain Bordeaux Finish 43.6% ABV
“Eight Year Old Single Grain which has been matured in selected Bordeaux casks. Finished at their Atlantic Ocean warehouse in County Cork, this whiskey is limited to 1000 bottles in the first batch.”
Irish Malts
Appearance: Light gold, summer honey. Medium legs
Nose: Plenty of red fruit, the very slightest spearmint and icing sugar galore. Very friendly and approachable. Vanilla infused honey now. Quite malty with pear and some green apple skin. Honey BBQ ribs.Drumstick squashies. Took a while but I’m now getting the more herbal tones. Now I’m getting strawberry jam.
Palate: Nice mouthfeel, good oily coating. Slightly spicier than the nose would suggest, not a bad thing, just interesting! White pepper on Werthers, buttery and spicy. Very interesting palate this. Getting chocolate now, maybe chilli infused chocolate, maybe lime-infused?
Finish: The finish for me is lime pickle, but sweetened slightly. A touch drying with herbal notes (cut grass) and a bit of icing sugar too.
Overall: It’s a pleasant dram. It’s not quite my taste as it’s a little herbal and spicy for me, but it’s purely my tastes and nothing at all wrong with the whiskey!
Clonakilty Irish Whiskey Small Batch Double Oak 43.6% ABV
“Clonakilty Single Batch Double Oak Finish is the flagship of Clonakilty’s Cask Finish Series.
Clonakilty
A premium product matured in ex-bourbon casks, it is finished in virgin American oak; and shaved, toasted and re-charred ex-red wine European oak casks (NEOC, New Era of Cask).
This makes it the world’s first Irish whiskey to be finished in a NEOC cask. NEOC are ex-red wine barrels from the Bordeaux region of France. They are hand-shaved by traditional coopers, and re-toasted according to each individual distiller’s specification.”
Appearance: A shade darker than white wine, golden and shiny. Hairline of clinging whiskey forms at the swirl line, thin to medium legs.
Nose: What a nose. An immediate intense waft of apple crumble with brown sugar sprinkled over, fruit salads and cola cubes. What a nose! There might be some embers on the nose. Apple chewits, Some furniture polish and, maybe, sandalwood. Peach on the nose too!
Palate: Ooh, I was hoping the palate continued in the same vein, and it does. Very nice. A nice sweet arrival, a touch herbal in the background. Again, strawberry chewy sweets and maybe rhubarb and custard too. Noticing more spice as I sip. Black pepper this time, again, a touch drying. Yeah, milk duds, with that sweet flour stuff that they’re covered in.
Finish: The finish for me is nice and sweet, with a spicy tinge. A trace of dryness and buttery chocolate, maybe white chocolate actually.
Overall: What a cracking and unique dram. Thoroughly enjoyed that one. Lots going on but all very well balanced and married. Very nice indeed!
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